In a band context, any one of those above reasons could be interchanged with "laziness," for the most part. "Too busy" doing anything other than the band still is the same as laziness, at least in regards to the band.
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The Real Reason Why Bands Play the Same Old Tired Covers
- Thread starter jive1
- Start date
In a band context, any one of those above reasons could be interchanged with "laziness," for the most part. "Too busy" doing anything other than the band still is the same as laziness, at least in regards to the band.
s0c9
Supporting Member
Not so sure about the "laziness" aspect, but there are [definitely] those who would label anything on the list as "lack of commitment"!
I'd view the list as more of the latter since other things going on may have nothing to do with the individual being lazy.
Yeah, I know, splitting hairs.. but [shrug].. not learning a song 'cus you only had 2 days and one of those nights was spent at the kids football game does not (IMHO) equate to being lazy. Commitment maybe, but not lazy.
You are reading too much into it.
I never said it had to be at MY pace. My pace can be pretty ludicrous at times, so I don't expect that at all unless it's someone that I know is capable of that. We each have our own speed and life priorities.
And this thread isn't about me or my standards, and there's no need to direct the discussion there. My standards certainly are not universal. I don't know where you read that, because I certainly never implied that or meant to. If people prove me wrong, that's fine. That's what discussion is about. There's people who agree too, but we all have our own situations. And in my experience, working with capable, professional musicians, the main cause for people defaulting to standards is laziness. Your mileage may vary, and that makes for an interesting discussion. If you're thinking I'm acting all authoritative, you need not think that because people can read plenty of my posts where I'm proven wrong. I've been married for 15 years, I'm used to being wrong.
Anyway, it's an interesting discussion.
This is just a series of excuses!!! nothing more. If you're in a garage band then who cares. If you wanna be in a working band then (as was stated earlier) step up; step out, or be fired. If you are "too busy" to be in a working project then be honest about it. No reason to hold others back because of your personal issues.
I book 99% of the gigs my band plays and all involved in the project where given the terms of acceptability from the start. Songs are selected in advance, rehearsals are scheduled in advance. Yes, occasionally life happens and that's OK. But, if you fail to meet expectations on a regular basis you are gone. Learn the material in the time allotted, show up prepared on a regular basis or deal with the inevitable.
Excuses are just that...excuses!
I book 99% of the gigs my band plays and all involved in the project where given the terms of acceptability from the start. Songs are selected in advance, rehearsals are scheduled in advance. Yes, occasionally life happens and that's OK. But, if you fail to meet expectations on a regular basis you are gone. Learn the material in the time allotted, show up prepared on a regular basis or deal with the inevitable.
Excuses are just that...excuses!
I don't buy into the we play these songs because that is what everyone wants to hear argument. My current band was started with the stated intent to do songs that are different than everyone else around here and since we have been playing out are finding ourselves in demand more and more because people WANT to hear something else. The problem I find most often is that guitarists are the ones that seem to be stuck in a rut and don't want to progress past what they've been playing for 30 years. So many classic rock bands in this area and so many of them aren't very good.
Yep, thats pretty much a requirement in my band too. Do Your Homework or you wont last long.
I disagree.
I was in a cover band with some friends for the best part of 7 years. In the last 4 years or so we barely added any new song to the repertoire, and instead stuck to the same 15 - 20 songs we'd always played. However, we had rehearsals at least 3x per month, and those rehearsals became less and less productive.
What was the reason for this lack of productivity? Our singer/rhythm guitarist. He'd always have an excuse ready:
"Didn't have time to learn the song, man. But I can play this one!"
"Yeah no, I just can't reach those notes. Let's do this song."
"Man, I had a terrible week at work so I didn't learn the songs we agreed to. Can we play this one instead?"
The dude had a set of songs he knew, and would always default back to those. He'd have tons of excuses week after week. If I could go back now I would start to systematically cancel rehearsals, cos guess what? That frees up a few hours in which you can learn a song or two. And I am positive that if I had effectively cancelled all rehearsals until he learned ONE tune which wasn't already on his repertoire, the band would have folded years before it ultimately did.
Most of the excuses which members come up with for not learning a tune, are just that: excuses for not learning a tune. And as for the audience being happy with the repertoire: by the end of that particular band, even my best friend (who is the singer's brother) didn't bother showing up anymore. You can only rearrange a 15-song set list so many times before people start to notice you're always playing the same songs ...
Exactly, if you are as talented as the Beatles, it's just that easy. For the rest of us, not so much.
I see you've met my first band's singer.
One thing that really drove me to practice and improve was that I never ever wanted to be the guy in rehearsal to say, "I can't play that song."
TL
R
In my last cover band, our mission statement was to find those songs that everyone in the audience knew, loved and would dance to, but hadn't heard in years, especially by cover bands. We were very successful with this formula.
Some of these songs, clearly, were regional - some of them are probably played to death in parts of the US, but I'm in Australia so that changes everything:
Echo Beach - Martha and the Muffins
And We Danced - The Hooters
Shake Your Body - Jackson 5
Joy To The World - 3 Dog Night
Breakout - Swing Out Sister
Lean On Me - Red Box
Adams Apple - Aerosmith
Stay - Oingo Boingo
Etc etc.
We just sought out songs that maybe only reached number 3 or 4 on the charts, or asked ourselves what was a popular bands next most famous song etc. It very much worked and we were always working.
The idea behind it, which really worked, was to watch the faces on the crowd - it was great fun to watch them go from "*** is this" to the dim memory dawning, light up their eyes and watch the delight as they shake it down!
RIn my last cover band, our mission statement was to find those songs that everyone in the audience knew, loved and would dance to, but hadn't heard in years, especially by cover bands. We were very successful with this formula.
Some of these songs, clearly, were regional - some of them are probably played to death in parts of the US, but I'm in Australia so that changes everything:
Echo Beach - Martha and the Muffins
And We Danced - The Hooters
Shake Your Body - Jackson 5
Joy To The World - 3 Dog Night
Breakout - Swing Out Sister
Lean On Me - Red Box
Adams Apple - Aerosmith
Stay - Oingo Boingo
Etc etc.
We just sought out songs that maybe only reached number 3 or 4 on the charts, or asked ourselves what was a popular bands next most famous song etc. It very much worked and we were always working.
The idea behind it, which really worked, was to watch the faces on the crowd - it was great fun to watch them go from "*** is this" to the dim memory dawning, light up their eyes and watch the delight as they shake it down!
No your way of the mark. Just the response you gave shows that your not on the same page. It's all about creativity.
TL
In my last cover band, our mission statement was to find those songs that everyone in the audience knew, loved and would dance to, but hadn't heard in years, especially by cover bands. We were very successful with this formula.
Some of these songs, clearly, were regional - some of them are probably played to death in parts of the US, but I'm in Australia so that changes everything:
Echo Beach - Martha and the Muffins
And We Danced - The Hooters
Shake Your Body - Jackson 5
Joy To The World - 3 Dog Night
Breakout - Swing Out Sister
Lean On Me - Red Box
Adams Apple - Aerosmith
Stay - Oingo Boingo
Etc etc.
We just sought out songs that maybe only reached number 3 or 4 on the charts, or asked ourselves what was a popular bands next most famous song etc. It very much worked and we were always working.
The idea behind it, which really worked, was to watch the faces on the crowd - it was great fun to watch them go from "*** is this" to the dim memory dawning, light up their eyes and watch the delight as they shake it down!
I've done the same thing and it is a great way to go about putting a different set list together no matter what type of music your band is playing. For instance instead of playing Tom Petty Breakdown or American Girl play Dont Do me Like that or another one of his songs that dont normally get covered. You can do that with most every band.
I totally understood what your saying. Even if you wanted to play whatever by whomever. Play what makes you happy first.
The cover band I'm in now is by far the best paid cover band I've been in. Having said that, a lot of the stuff listed is what we play. Why? Because it keeps patrons in the bar until closing. That's what the owner pays us to do. Sure we slip in 3-4 originals a night and a couple wild card songs. But, the songs you listed are what people are buying. I've played the obscure songs, guess what.... Chicks don't dig them. If you want paid.. Keep the chicks there dancing and drinking. If you don't want paid, then don't worry about song selection. Just my opinion. Not worth much, but there it is.
Not quite the same, but similar--when I used to teach guitar (And a bit of bass) we had a yearly festival where various music schools had students perform and get scored, and prizes given.
After the first year I knew about 7 or 8 songs that another teacher's students would play--every year and about the same that were there every other year.
Rather than come up with new stuff he gave students the same old stuff over & over--I think it was to save time.
The more advanced students had more variety--and they probably had more say in what they played.
I allowed students to pick songs--unless they picked something that wouldn't work well for the festival.
I did make suggestions if a student didn't know what to pick-and I did have the final say on the bands--where I picked most of the songs--with input from the students (One student once said he wanted to do something new, like Jimi Hendrix (He had just discovered Hendrix--that band did a Hendrix medley--and it sounded great)
I did get comments about how some of the other teachers had students who sounded like cookie cutters, and mine all sounded like themselves--even the ones that weren't that good. One of my main goals was for them to develop their own style.
So I got bored with that one teacher and his repetitive songs.
After the first year I knew about 7 or 8 songs that another teacher's students would play--every year and about the same that were there every other year.
Rather than come up with new stuff he gave students the same old stuff over & over--I think it was to save time.
The more advanced students had more variety--and they probably had more say in what they played.
I allowed students to pick songs--unless they picked something that wouldn't work well for the festival.
I did make suggestions if a student didn't know what to pick-and I did have the final say on the bands--where I picked most of the songs--with input from the students (One student once said he wanted to do something new, like Jimi Hendrix (He had just discovered Hendrix--that band did a Hendrix medley--and it sounded great)
I did get comments about how some of the other teachers had students who sounded like cookie cutters, and mine all sounded like themselves--even the ones that weren't that good. One of my main goals was for them to develop their own style.
So I got bored with that one teacher and his repetitive songs.
Have you met my guitarist? Because your statement above describes him, (experienced player not too agreeable to learn new material
Yea, just practice enough and you'll be as good as the Beatles. Let me know how that works for you.
